The M42 closes both ways between Junctions 6 and 9 from 9pm Friday to 5am Monday for HS2's final beam lift. Every Solihull closure through to 2 October.
Solihull’s traffic runs on a handful of corridors: the M42 down the eastern flank, the A45 Coventry Road past the airport, the A34 Stratford Road through Shirley and the A41 through the town centre. When one of them is dug up, the whole borough feels it.
This Solihull roadworks page is checked against the council’s own traffic orders, HS2’s closure notices and the National Highways daily closure report. It was last rebuilt on 18 September 2026.
The M42 shuts in both directions this weekend, and this is the big one
The motorway closes completely between Junctions 6 and 9 in both directions, from 9pm on Friday 18 September until 5am on Monday 21 September. Not overnight. The whole weekend.
This is an HS2 closure, not a National Highways maintenance job. The work is the final beam installation for the M42 Motorway Box in Solihull, plus deck installation on the Water Orton viaducts in North Warwickshire (HS2 closure notice; Transport for West Midlands).
Three other links go with it:
- the M6 Junction 4a southbound link to the M42, in both directions
- the M6 northbound Junction 3a link to M6toll T1
- the M6 Toll southbound from T2
Junction 6 is the airport and NEC junction, so this takes out the normal motorway approach to Birmingham Airport for the entire weekend, in both directions, along with the route north to the M6.
The diversion route is not published. Both HS2 and Transport for West Midlands say only that “a fully signed diversion route will be in place”, and neither names the roads. For the M6toll, HS2 does give a route: M6 Junction 3a to M6 Junction 4, then the A446 northbound to T1 going north, and the A446 southbound to M6 Junction 4 coming the other way (HS2 notice, PDF).
One discrepancy worth knowing if you are cutting it fine. HS2 and TfWM both give 9pm Friday to 5am Monday. National Highways books the closure in its own report from 8pm Friday to 6am Monday, an hour earlier at each end (National Highways road closure report, seven-day report for 17 to 23 September 2026). Treat the National Highways window as the one to plan around.
Two more weekend closures are already booked for October
HS2 says it has coordinated its worksites with National Highways to cut the number of closures needed. Two remain on the published schedule, both in October and both subject to consent (HS2: major motorway works in the West Midlands in 2026):
- 22 to 23 October: M6 Junctions 4 and 4a, both directions
- 24 to 25 October: M42 Junction 7 link to the M6
The A45 at Bickenhill, still there until New Year’s Eve
The longest restriction in the borough is not a night job and is not going away. The A45 clockwise at M42 Junction 6, the Bickenhill Interchange, is under a partial roundabout closure running from the M42 northbound entry slip round to the M42 southbound exit slip. It started at 3pm on 14 July 2026 and is booked through to 9pm on 31 December 2026.
It appears on every single day sheet of the National Highways weekly report, weekends included, so treat it as a fixed condition of any airport run rather than a passing job. This weekend it is the thing your diversion will run into.
What is closed in the borough right now
Three jobs end today, Friday 18 September:
- Spencers Lane, Berkswell, near the entrance to Beechcote, 9.30am to 3.30pm, for carriageway patching. Diversion via Coventry Road, Broad Lane, Banner Lane and Tanners Lane (TR170).
- Bradnocks Marsh Lane, entire length, the last day of a rolling closure for gully repairs that started on 14 September (TR129).
- Blossomfield Road, the cycle lane and adjoining side roads, the final day of a programme that began on 20 July (TR180).
Everything else that sat on this page a fortnight ago has now finished:
- Kenilworth Road and Hampton Road, Knowle
- Alderminster Road, Solihull
- Barston Lane, Eastcote
- Stoneton Crescent and Kemps Green Road, Balsall Common
- Eastcote Lane, Hampton in Arden
- Widney Lane, Solihull
- Mill Lane at the Bentley Heath level crossing
- Whitnash Close, Balsall Common
The Arden Road footpath closure at Dorridge has also come off the register.
What closes next, 19 September to 2 October
| Road | Dates | Times | Why | For whom |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avenue Road, Dorridge | 20 Sep | 16:00 to 23:59 | Structural patch | Solihull MBC |
| Stratford Road Service Road, Shirley (rear of 209-237) | 20 Sep | 08:00 to 16:00 | Carriageway patching | Solihull MBC |
| Stratford Road Service Road, Shirley (fronting 266-276) | 20 Sep | 08:00 to 16:00 | Carriageway patching | Solihull MBC |
| Lyndon Road Service Road | 20 Sep | 08:30 to 16:00 | New service connection | Virgin Media |
| Hawksworth Crescent, Chelmsley Wood | 21 Sep | 09:30 to 15:30 | Replace frame and cover | Severn Trent |
| Alcott Lane, Marston Green | 21 to 23 Sep | 09:30 to 15:00 | Carriageway resurfacing | Solihull MBC |
| Ravenswood Drive South | 21 to 23 Sep | Not stated | Ducting in carriageway and footway | Openreach |
| Barston Lane, Barston | 21 to 22 Sep | 20:00 to 06:00 | Carriageway resurfacing | Solihull MBC |
| Cornets End Lane, Meriden | 23 to 24 Sep | Not stated | Small hydrant install | Severn Trent |
| Shadowbrook Lane, Hampton in Arden | 23 to 25 Sep | 08:00 to 16:00 | Carriageway resurfacing | Solihull MBC |
| Eden Road, Solihull | 24 to 25 Sep | Not stated | Remedial reinstatement | Severn Trent |
| Berwicks Lane, Chelmsley Wood | 27 Sep | 08:00 to 16:00 | Carriageway patching | Solihull MBC |
| West Avenue, Castle Bromwich | 28 Sep | 09:30 to 15:30 | Telegraph pole replacement | Openreach |
| Rowood Drive, Solihull | 28 to 29 Sep | 08:00 to 16:00 | Carriageway patching | Solihull MBC |
| Barston Lane, Barston | 28 Sep to 2 Oct | Not stated | Utility works in carriageway | National Grid |
Five of those need a word of explanation.
Avenue Road, Dorridge, is a station closure in disguise. The shut section runs from Dorridge Road to the railway station car park access, and it starts at 4pm, which is the wrong end of the day if you park there. The diversion runs via Forest Road, Station Road and Station Approach (TR208).
Shirley loses two stretches of the Stratford Road service road on the same day. One is the length behind 209 to 237, between Stanway Road and the car park at the rear of Shirley Methodist Church (TR288). The other fronts 266 to 276, in the vicinity of the access to the health centre, with the diversion signed round past Aldi and the rear of Shirley Surgery (TR289). Both run 8am to 4pm on Sunday 20 September.
Alcott Lane, Marston Green, is the widest borough closure of the fortnight, running from Chelmsley Lane to the Station Road roundabout for three days. The signed diversion is a long one: Station Road, Holly Lane, Bell Lane, Tile Cross Road, Bosworth Drive, Chapelhouse Road, Gloucester Way and Moorend Avenue (TR296).
Barston Lane is shut twice in eight days, by two different bodies. The council resurfaces the stretch between Friday Lane and Eastcote Lane overnight on 21 and 22 September (TR187). Then National Grid Electricity Distribution digs up the carriageway outside Tudor Cottage from 28 September to 2 October, with a diversion the length of Knowle Road, Hampton Road, High Street, Kenilworth Road and Balsall Street (TR302). Note that the council’s summary list gives the second one as a single day, 28 September. The legal notice behind it runs to 2 October, and the notice is the document that counts.
West Avenue, Castle Bromwich, carries a warning the others do not. Every other notice on this page says emergency access will be maintained through the site. This one says the opposite: “Access cannot be provided through the restriction for Police, Fire and Ambulance Services responding to emergencies” (TR217). It is one day, 9.30am to 3.30pm on 28 September, for an Openreach telegraph pole, but if you live on that stretch it is worth knowing.
The long one: A45 Damson Parkway junction, to 2028
The council’s junction upgrade at A45 Coventry Road and Damson Parkway, the turn for Birmingham Airport’s Terminal Road and the JLR logistics centre, began on 8 August 2026. The traffic order covering it runs until 7 February 2028, or earlier if the works finish sooner (TR160).
What the order allows, phase by phase and only when signed on site:
- a 30mph limit on the A45 both ways from the Birmingham boundary to the existing 50mph limit east of the junction, and 30mph on Damson Parkway down to the JLR logistics centre access
- phased closures of sections of the A45 around the junction
- closure of Terminal Road for its entire length
- closure of Damson Parkway southbound between the A45 and the slip road, plus a ban on the right turn from Damson Parkway onto the A45
The reassurance in the notice is worth quoting: “Full closures will be in place overnight or weekends only”, with diversions signed per phase. Questions go to damsonparkway@solihull.gov.uk.
Trains: one Sunday matters, and it is this Sunday
Chiltern Railways serves Solihull, Widney Manor and Dorridge. Its daily change pages are published date by date, and across the next fortnight only one of them touches a station in this borough.
On Sunday 20 September the Euston to Birmingham New Street route is closed. Chiltern is running an enhanced Marylebone to Birmingham Moor Street service with lengthened and additional trains to absorb the traffic. Because those trains are too long for the platforms, Hatton and Lapworth are served by replacement buses running Warwick Parkway to Hatton to Lapworth to Dorridge, for local journeys to and from those two stations only (Chiltern Railways, 20 September).
The Saturdays either side are Wembley Stadium events, and both affect only the Marylebone to Aylesbury Vale Parkway route, not this line (19 September, 26 September). The late-night engineering work on 21, 22 and 23 September is in the Oxford area, and the work on 28, 29 and 30 September is around Aylesbury and Princes Risborough. Neither affects trains from Solihull.
Chiltern loads finalised timetables into journey planners nine weeks ahead, and says event timetables can be released later than that, so check your specific train before travelling.
Station parking and the sensible workarounds
Parking at most West Midlands rail stations is free. Solihull is one of only four charged station car parks in the network area, per Transport for West Midlands. The practical picture, from the operators’ own station pages, rechecked on 18 September:
- Solihull: 446 spaces. £6.00 daily, £3.50 off-peak, £3.50 Saturday and Sunday, £22.50 weekly. The car park has been run by Excel Parking Services on behalf of Transport for West Midlands since 1 July 2024, and Blue Badge holders pay here (Chiltern Railways).
- Dorridge: 104 spaces, free, open 24 hours (Chiltern Railways).
- Widney Manor: 277 spaces; Olton: 103 spaces (sizes per National Rail; neither page states a charge).
For airport runs during the Damson Parkway works, the alternative is often quicker anyway: the X12 bus, run by National Express, links Solihull station to Birmingham Airport every 20 minutes (Chiltern Railways). Train times for the wider commute are on our Solihull train times page.
What it means for you
- Flying or driving anywhere near the airport this weekend. The M42 is gone in both directions between Junctions 6 and 9 from Friday night to Monday morning, and the A45 clockwise at Bickenhill is restricted on top of it. Leave properly early, and do not assume the signed diversion will be quick, because thousands of other drivers will be on it.
- Heading north to the M6 or the M6 Toll. The Junction 4a southbound link and two M6 Toll connections go with the M42. Going via Junction 3a and the A446 is HS2’s own published advice for the toll road.
- Parking at Dorridge station on Sunday evening. Avenue Road shuts at 4pm between Dorridge Road and the station car park access. Come in via Forest Road and Station Approach.
- In Shirley on Sunday. Two separate lengths of the Stratford Road service road are shut 8am to 4pm, one of them at the health centre access.
- In Marston Green next week. Alcott Lane is shut from Chelmsley Lane to the Station Road roundabout, 9.30am to 3pm, Monday to Wednesday.
- In Barston. Your lane is shut twice in eight days, overnight on 21 and 22 September and then all day from 28 September to 2 October.
- Going to London on Sunday. Chiltern is the route that is working. Dorridge passengers going to Hatton or Lapworth get a bus.
Consultations you can still object to
Three schemes are open for comment right now, and the deadlines are close:
- Widney Lane, Solihull, two raised road humps near Clifton Crescent and Whitefields Road, with a new zebra crossing on the Whitefields Road hump. Objections in writing to tro@solihull.gov.uk by 2 October 2026 (notice).
- Coppice Academy School Streets, proposed waiting and movement restrictions, consultation until 9 October 2026 (notice).
- Kenilworth Road, Balsall Common, a proposed permanent 40mph limit, now at the “considering consultation outcomes” stage, so comments have closed but the decision has not been made.
Footpaths and speed limits still in force
Meriden footpath M231 is shut until 5 December, the longest closure of any kind in the borough bar the two motorway-scale jobs. A temporary speed limit on Waste Lane, Balsall Common stays in force to 29 March 2027. All of these sit on the council’s traffic regulation orders page.
Where to check live conditions
- one.network’s Solihull map is the live roadworks map the council itself points residents to.
- The council’s traffic regulation orders page lists every closure with its legal notice. The notices carry detail the summary list does not, including times, diversion routes and, as Barston Lane shows this fortnight, the real end date.
- National Highways road closure report covers the M42, M6, M40 and A45 trunk sections, and is republished daily.
Frequently asked questions
Is the M42 closed this weekend?
Yes, completely. The motorway is shut in both directions between Junctions 6 and 9 from 9pm on Friday 18 September until 5am on Monday 21 September, for HS2 to install the final beams of the M42 Motorway Box. The M6 Junction 4a southbound link to the M42 goes with it, in both directions, along with the M6 northbound Junction 3a link to M6toll T1 and the M6 Toll southbound from T2.
Why is the M42 shut for a whole weekend rather than overnight?
Because the work is beam installation over the motorway rather than resurfacing on it. HS2 is lifting the final beams for the M42 Motorway Box in Solihull and installing deck sections on the Water Orton viaducts in North Warwickshire, and says coordinating its worksites with National Highways has reduced the total number of closures needed.
When is the next M42 weekend closure?
24 to 25 October 2026, for the M42 Junction 7 link to the M6. The weekend before, 22 to 23 October, the M6 is closed at Junctions 4 and 4a in both directions. Both are listed as subject to consent.
What are the big roadworks in Solihull right now?
Two long ones, both on the A45. The clockwise partial roundabout closure at M42 Junction 6 runs to 31 December 2026. The Coventry Road and Damson Parkway junction upgrade started on 8 August 2026, under a traffic order running to February 2028.
Are the trains from Solihull running this weekend?
Chiltern is running, and running more trains than usual on the Sunday. The Euston to Birmingham New Street route is closed on Sunday 20 September, so Chiltern is putting on lengthened and additional Marylebone to Moor Street services. Dorridge passengers travelling to Hatton or Lapworth use a replacement bus instead.
Where can I see live road closures in Solihull?
The council directs residents to one.network/uk/solihull for live and planned works, and publishes every legal closure notice on its traffic regulation orders page.
Is there a park and ride in Solihull?
There is no dedicated bus park and ride; the rail network is the park and ride. Most station car parks in the TfWM area are free. In this borough Dorridge (104 spaces) is free while Solihull station charges £6 daily, and Blue Badge holders are not exempt at Solihull.
Sources
- Solihull Council traffic regulation orders, and the individual notices behind it: TR170 Spencers Lane, TR129 Bradnocks Marsh Lane, TR180 Blossomfield Road, TR208 Avenue Road, TR288 and TR289 Stratford Road service roads, TR066 Lyndon Road Service Road, TR198 Hawksworth Crescent, TR296 Alcott Lane, TR215 Ravenswood Drive South, TR187 and TR302 Barston Lane, TR182 Cornets End Lane, TR190 Shadowbrook Lane, TR205 Eden Road, TR281 Berwicks Lane, TR217 West Avenue, TR274 Rowood Drive and TR160 A45 Damson Parkway.
- HS2: M42 full weekend closures between J6 to 9 northbound and J9 to 6 southbound, the closure notice PDF and major HS2 motorway works planned across the West Midlands in 2026.
- Transport for West Midlands: M42 HS2 weekend closures.
- National Highways road closure report, seven-day spreadsheet for 17 to 23 September 2026, for the A45 Bickenhill restriction and the M42 and M6 closures.
- Chiltern Railways daily change pages for 19 September, 20 September and 26 September.
- Transport for West Midlands park and ride, Chiltern Railways Solihull and Dorridge, and National Rail for station parking.
All dates checked against the source documents on 18 September 2026. Traffic orders are amended and works overrun, so check the live map before a journey that depends on one road.
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